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Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Simplicity Cosplay Spring 2016

New Simplicity Cosplay Patterns

I've been off my game with this one, there have been a few patterns that I've recently overlooked. Since my last Simplicity Cosplay post, I've noticed Simplicity has had a steady influx of historical and medieval fantasy inspired stuff. There's too much for me to talk about, so if you're interested I encourage you to peruse their catalog. What I will talk about is their newest Cosplay patterns, as well as a few that were released a few months ago but I failed to touch base with.

New Looks

S8113Misses' Costume with Craft Foam Armor, Crown & BeltIt's Princess Zelda! (Unlicensed) I have to admit I am impressed with the level of detail that went into this costume pattern. You get the dress pattern and the instructions for the foam armor and embellishments. I'm somewhat surprised that they would choose such a specific character. I'm under the impression that Simplicity felt it best to go for the most popular female Cosplay characters (I'm shocked that we're not looking at Princess Peach!). While it is cool, I feel that this pattern is slightly limiting. Perhaps it would benefit from multiple looks, to give it a little variety. At least with some of their other patterns there's the versatility to be more than one character. For example, the corseted Batman villains or Disney princesses, or Sailor Moon patterns. But with this it's just Princess Zelda. I figure Link's costume would be pretty simplistic, why not include it? Not to mention, how freaking adorable would it be that a mom would go as Zelda and dress her baby as Link? The possibilities!

S8074Misses' Warrior CostumesThe bondage dress is interesting but Look B looks too similar to S1347 which I blogged about two years ago. This pattern also seems far more simplified than the other fantasy designs that I've blogged about. And how many more of these patterns does Simplicity need? While I understand the demand for a Hobbit pattern and those that are clearly referencing Game of Thrones, I've seen far too many fantasy inspired patterns for women emerging from Simplicity. So much so, that they seem to be regurgitating the same designs over and over again. It's not encouraging to say the least.

S100701Misses' Corset Bodysuit, Collar, Cuff, Bunny and Cat AccessoriesYet again, this is a pattern that suffers from being too specific. Whereas Zelda is at least cool looking, this pattern just bores me. I understand the whole bunny suit fad...it's popular in Japan. I have some personal biases against this shit, from a very feminist standpoint, but we're not going to get into that. I just find that this costume is far too basic for the $20 price tag and I'm surprised they wasted their money contracting the design. I'm sure they could've come up with more than just a body suit! Hell, even a clutch or something would've been nice.

S8114Misses' Steampunk CostumeSimplicity's Steampunk patterns must be doing fairly well considering they keep releasing new ones. I like this pattern. I don't know about the breeches but I love that top, especially in the pinstripe and organza. The pattern is basic and features a corseted blouse with puff sleeves, a dickie, and two kinds of pants with possible peplum. I'm curious to see how this holds up in real life, hopefully someone will buy it and review it so I can see the finished product.

S8075Misses' Steampunk CostumesYet another Arkivestry pattern! They seem smitten with Steampunk. In this pattern, they've delivered an unusual Steampunk design. Your eyes do not deceive you, there is a lot going on in this pattern. There's an under dress, a detachable peplum with ruffled bustle, ruffled cuffs and collar, a fitted vest and a harness. This won't suit everybody's tastes, for sure, but I rather enjoy it as it has a certain Gyspy/Fae Steampunk quality to it.

Old Looks

S1040Misses' and Mens' Cape CostumesIs this Steampunk meets Assassin's Creed? I think the men's cape is pretty awesome, I could see it being more embellished and used for a variety of purposes. Personally I'm not into the high collar thing, I get that it's wildly popular in anime though, so I guess it could suit a lot of different characters. The major downside to this pattern is that hideous flame cape.... What were they thinking?

S1036Misses' SuperGirl and BatGirl CostumesI really like this pattern and I'm not even into DC. Believe it or not, this isn't a full bodysuit. It looks as though it is but it's actually leggings and a knit top. This is far more practical for those of us who aren't into wearing bodysuits (I mean c'mon, Halloween, drinking, you have to pee every five seconds, who the fuck wants to undress that much?!). The pattern also features two different capes, gauntlets, boot covers, a belt and a mask. I would be tempted to use this pattern for other costumes. Simplicity also offers a Wonder Woman and Thor costume for those of you who are interested. And yes, these are all licensed products!

S1039 Mens' Cosplay CostumesOther than The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack costume (unlicensed), this is still in line with Arkivestry's Steampunk kick. It's a good looking men's costume, mind you the blunt end of Jack's waistcoat bugs the shit out of me and I'm sure someone could make a better looking bat bow tie. I think what's most off putting about the Jack costume is that they chose to make the example in some kind of faux leather... it looks awkward. Why not a nice pin striped suiting material?? Regardless, I can see that between the two the Steampunk costume is the better outfit. I wouldn't mind making something like this for my brother.

S1034Misses' Amy Brown Fairy CostumesEven more Amy Brown costumes for Fae enthusiasts! Mind you, these aren't much different than their predecessors. It comes with a slightly more simplistic skirt and corset combo, plus you get a pattern to make a giant piece of candy corn. That's about it though, you don't get wings with this, so if you're looking for the whole ensemble I still recommend S1550.

Conclusion

I don't know what to think at this point. I'm seeing a lot of very specific character costumes emerging from Simplicity. While I'm sure these characters are fairly popular, I still think that it would be better to create costume patterns with more than one look to them. Simplicity is most definitely interested in Steampunk as they've continuously released designs in that style. I see no sign of this stopping, as Steampunk evolves I'm sure they'll continue to track it. I'm very impressed with their licensed DC stuff and I'd like to see more things like that in the future. I don't want to see anymore ancient fantasy stuff from them, it all feels very rehashed.
What are your thoughts?

11 comments:

Interesting...These are kinda basic, actually. Aside from the Zelda costume - and the Steampunk ones, of course - I don't think they're that specific. The so called warrior outfits are suitable for any 'warrior' type character or LARP event. The bodysuits could be used for any kind of animal or superhero costumes and you can use the Supergirl and Batgirl patterns for pretty much any superherione too. I like the first two steampunk patterns and the high collar cape.^^

I love the Steampunk costume with the high collar! I think the Steampunk, licensed superhero and Zelda costumes are some of Simplicity's most successful patterns. I think I might buy the Batgirl/Supergirl costume for another purpose some day, plus it acts as a shirt and leggings pattern so I could use it for everyday stuff!

Love the idea of having a generic Zelda costume to play around with-- I just may snatch that one up when I get a chance, along with 8114. Call me crazy but I freaking adore jodhpurs lol, and the coat with it looks so fun to play with!

These are nice. I could see the younger cosplay me liking these. I like the retro superheroes, though the fantasy ones are a little generic looking. Like if you were doing LotR or got, no one would know what you were dressed as. Really glad there's no stupid ball gowns. Lol also did not know people were still doing steampunk

lol Oh the ballgowns. I'm surprised there isn't more of those weird Cosplay trends, but maybe they learned their lesson with the corset combos (which were too much to begin with, one would've been enough). I follow some Steampunk blogs, I think it's popular in the southern states and overseas mostly. We've had a few small gatherings here in Southern Ontario, but nothing special. I don't think Steampunk is in it's height any more, but it seems it has enough of a following that there's still the occasional festival. I just wish Simplicity were willing to take a risk on something Goth, but to be fair, they appear to treat Steampunk like it's a Cosplay thing and not an actual fashion style. Which makes me wonder if they even really give a crap about alternative fashion at all...

I still woul think Zelda would be a nice buy for everyone who is not able to create their own patterns, easy to recognize and you are right, baby link or a kitty dressed as epona or something would be cute additions XD

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